Poo consistency. A conversational topic for every dog owning family covering size, colour, frequency and consistency. A common problem for our pets is loose stool and diarrhoea, of which a world of advice and products are available, but what if your pet has the opposite problem? Dry, crumbly and hard poo can cause just as much discomfort and distress as diarrhoea and yet can easily go unnoticed. Excessively dry poo can cause symptoms such as straining to pass faeces, inability to settle, abdominal pain, inappetence and nausea.
Why is my dog’s poo crumbly?
1) Constipation
True constipation is relatively uncommon in dogs, often being confused with straining secondary to diarrhoea. However constipation can happen particularly in dogs that are given a “raw diet” including animal bones. These bits of partially chewed up bone are non- digestible and can make your dog’s poo more dry, bulky and abnormally shaped, leading to greater difficulty passing stool.
2) High protein diet
Pets that are fed a very high protein diet tend to have smaller and drier stools. This can be normal for them if their diet consists of feed with a high percentage of animal protein and a low carbohydrate and cereal content.
4) Scavenging and over- grooming
If your dog has eaten something abnormal, such as fibre from a toy or has excessively groomed and is passing a lot of hair, gut transit time can be slowed down, allowing more water in the colon to be reabsorbed. This can lead to harder and more crumbly stools.
5) Dehydration
If your pet has not drunk adequate water or has lost a lot of water from hot weather or exercise, they can suffer with dry, difficult to pass stools. Equally some medical conditions can cause your pet to have difficulty staying hydrated due to increased loss of water, such as kidney disease or water diabetes. If you know your pet has a condition such as this, they may be more likely to struggle with dry stool. Also particularly old or young animals have reduced reserves for coping with dehydration, so particular care is needed in these animals.
6) Slow gut transit time
The more slowly food moves through the large intestines the more time the gut has to re- absorb water. Therefore reduce the water content of your pet’s stool. Anything that reduces this time can therefore cause dry stool; including intestinal disease, old age, inappetence and a lack of exercise.
What might my vet do to diagnose and treat a dog with crumbly poop?
After discussing the type of pet you have, including age and breed and the clinical signs your pet has been showing, your vet will start off with a clinical exam. This will include checking your pet’s hydration status and feeling their abdomen to check for hard faeces in the colon. They will likely also perform a rectal exam. Based on these findings and how unwell your pet is feeling your vet may also perform further diagnostic tests such as an x- ray and blood work to establish if there is a medical cause. Treatment will be based on these findings but can include intravenous fluid therapy and enemas.
What can I do at home if my dog has crumbly poop?
Initial treatments you can try at home (if your pet is still eating and well in themselves) can include increasing the water content in your dog’s food by soaking their kibble or mixing in water into their wet food. Non-prescription dog laxative medications may be available from your vet to temporarily ease the symptoms associated with dry stool. (Although we strongly recommend using them only with veterinary advice). If there are no medical underlying causes for dry stool, changes in diet, feed and even prescription medications may improve the consistency of faeces as a permanent solution. If it is a consistent problem, causing your pet distress or they are not acting themselves it is recommended to get in contact with your vet immediately.
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